Slide switch with rotary spring detent mechanism

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a combined rotary and side detent switch. The improvement resides in the combination of a slide having a plurality of spaced female contacts, with a rotary detent mechanism, a motion-transmitting means being provided between the slide and the rotary detent for conversion of the latter to a corresponding sliding movement of said slide and said motion transmission means being formed into a recess or groove-shaped female member slidingly cooperating with a follower pin or ribshaped male member formed on an extension of said slide.

United States Patent Endow [54] SLIDE SWITCH WITH ROTARY SPRING DETENTMECHANISM [72] Inventor: Kunio Endow, Tokyo, Japan [73] Assignee:Mitsumi Electric Company Limited,

Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Nov. 19, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 91,088

[4 1 Feb. 15, 1972 Allison ..200/ l 6 F Primary Examiner-LR. ScottAttorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak ABSTRACT [30] Fo eignApplication Pri ri y ta This invention relates to a combined rotary andside detent Nov. 20, 1969 Japan ..44/92653 1969 Japan" 13169 Theimprovement resides in the combination of a slide having May 27, 1970Japan ..45/45034 a plurality f spaced f le contacts, with a rotary detemmechanism, a motion-transmitting means being provided v latter to acorresponding sliding movement of said slide and [58] Field til Search..200/l6 D, .16 F, 155, 156, 166 SD Said motion transmission means beingformed into a recess or groove-shaped female member slidinglycooperating with a [56] CIM follower pin or rib-shaped male memberfonned on an exten- UNITED STATES PATENTS of said Slide- 2,577,95512/1951 Dixon 200/16 F 1 Claim, 14 Drawing Figures 2? N [of 260 '90 gI40 2| Q l7 |Oe V U P I00 I! WI 1 g! l 22 10h 1 l JABco I00 I2PAIENTEDFEB 15 I972 3, 543 043 SHEET 2 OF 2 SLIDE SWITCH WITH ROTARYSPRING DETENT MECHANISM This invention relates to a slide switch with arotary spring detent mechanism.

The main object of the invention is to provide an unique combined rotaryand slide detent switch, capable of obviating several conventionaldrawbacks inherent in the conventional slide switch and the rotary-typeswitch.

A further object is to provide an improved slide switch of the abovekind, capable of providing multicontacts switching operation in anaccurate and reliable way.

These and further objects, features and advantages of the invention willappear more apparent when read the following detailed description of theinvention by reference to the accompanying drawings illustrative ofseveral preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a side view and a cross-sectional views of acomparative conventional slide switch, the cross section being takensubstantially along a section line IIII and illustrated on somewhatenlarged scale.

FIG. 3 is substantially a longitudinally sectional view of a firstembodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are respective cross-sectional views taken along sectionlines IV-IV and V-V shown in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views of relatively cooperatingconstituents parts comprised in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a partially broken-away plan view of cooperating slide end andcam member employed in the foregoing embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a partially broken-away perspective view of said cam member.

FIG. 10 is a substantially longitudinally sectional view of nearly ahalf of a second embodiment of the invention, said half beingsubstantially corresponding to nearly a left half of the switch shown inFIG. 3.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the second embodimentshown in FIG. 10, being taken substantially along a section line Xl-Xl.

FIG. 12 is a substantially similar view to FIG. 10, showing a main partofa third embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the third embodiment,being taken substantially along a section line XIII- XIII shown in FIG.12. I

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the connecting parts between slide and cammember employed in the third embodiment.

As a preparatory description for clarifying the background technique ofthe invention, a comparative conventional detent slide switch combinedwith a slide switch element will now be illustrated by reference toFIGS. 1 and 2.

This rotatingly operation slide switch comprises an elongated casinglhaving a channel-shaped cross section which is opened at its bottomside as seen. The opened lower side of the casing l is formed with twoseries of inwardly bent tabs 1a and lb; said open casing bottom is,however, closed by a closure strip 3 which is made of an insulatingmaterial such as plastic and mounted on said tabs 10 and 1b and carriesrigidly a number of stationary contacts 2, each thereof projecting intothe inside space of the casing -1. The inwardly projecting ends of thestationary contacts 2 are denoted by 2a in common.

In the interior space 5 of the casing 1, a slide 6 is slidably mountedon the closure strip 3 which is fonned integrally with an upwardlydirecting projection 8 projecting through an axially extending slot 7formed through the upper wall part 10 of casing l. The slide 6 is formedwith one or more stepped recesses 60 in each of which a female springcontact 9 is mounted elastically in position. It will be clear that byoperating the projection 8 as a manipulating element so as to move theslide 6 axially to and fro a successive single contact combination or acertain complex multicontact combination can be brought about. as thecase may be, depending upon any.

selected one of the stop positions of the slide 6, for performing eachstage a selected switching position in a on-" or off-" mode, or transfermode. as occasion may desire.

It is, however, a modern desire, especially with high-classstereotuners, amplifiers, all wave radio receiver sets, to provide achance of switching a plurality of circuits simultaneously. Anotherdesire is naturally to provide a chance for performing the switchingoperation from the front panel side of the instrument from the point ofdesign and/or ornamental demands. Since at the backside of the panelthere are provided a large number of highly complicated instrumentalconstituents arranged in a highly crowded manner so that difficultiesare frequently encountered to fit the aforementioned kind of switchingslide at the rear side of the panel with avoidance of possiblemechanical interference with neighboring instrumental constituents. Inorder to avoid such difficulties, it would be naturally conceivable toemploy the conventional type of rotary switch having a contact disc.Since, however, such rotarytype switch is rather more voluminous andcostly than the slide switch, the aforementioned drawback inherent inthe slide switch can only be solved in rather rare events and only withmuch difficulties.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3-9, a preferred first embodiment of thepresent invention will be described in detail hereinbelow.

In this embodiment, numeral 10 represents a metallic casing having achannel cross section as before. This casing 10 is opened downwards;this open bottom is, however, closed by a closure strip 13 made of aninsulating material as before which strip is fixedly attached to thecasing 10 in the shown position by two series of inwardly bent-upopposing tabs 10a and 10b. A plurality of stationary male contacts 12are arranged in one or more axial rows and at their regularly spacedmutual distances and mounted fixedly in the closure strip 13 by moldingor other conventional fixing measure.

A slide 14 made of an insulating material is slidably received in theinterior space 10c of the casing 10, said slide being formed in itsbottom part with a plurality of recesses l5.arranged in one or moreaxial rows in registration with those of the stationary contacts 12. Asseen, these recesses 15 are separated from each other at a predeterminedmutual distance when seen along a specific row, each of these recessesbeing fitted with a female spring contact 16 so as to cooperate with aselected pair of the inwardly projecting ends 1212 of stationary malecontacts 12. Under occasions, certain of these projecting ends 12a mayhave a different widths.

The slide 14 is urged resiliently by a coil spring 17 so as to moveaxially in the left-hand direction when seen in FIG. 3, the right-handend of said spring being kept in engagement with an inwardly directinghook 102 formed on the right-hand end wall 10d of casing 10.

A mounting member 18 is attached fixedly at the left-hand end extensionwalls 10f and 10] of the casing 10 by means of tabs 10g and 10h andmounts in turn rotatably a sleeve 22 which mounts fixedly an operatingshaft 19 formed at its outer end with a knurled grip 19a. Thus, sleeve22 and shaft 19 can rotate in unison with each other. To the inner endof shaft 19, a hollow cylindrical cam member 20 is fixedly attachedwhich is formed, however, integrally with a detent disc part 20a. Thecam member 20 is formed further on its inside cylindrical wall surfacewith a substantially triangular recess 30 having a straight edge 30a anda slightly curved edge 30b (especially cf. FIG. 8).-

Slide 14 is formed with an axially extending reduced extension 14a whichis formed in turn with a rib 21. This rib 21 is kept with its tip end210 in contact with said slightly curved edge 30b. Under occasions, thisrib 21 may be replaced by a pin, although not shown.

Detent disc part 20a is formed with integral projections 23 on itsperiphery, a recess 23a being thus formed between two neighboringprojections 23. In the present specific embodiment, these projections 23are provided four in their number, and the detent recesses 23a are threeas shown.

A detent ball 27 is arranged to cooperate with any one of said recesses23 and kept in rotatable engagement with an opening 26a perforated in apressure spring strip .26, the end extremities of the latter being keptin pressure engagement with respective receiving hooks 24 and 25 orother similar,

male or female catch means formed on or in casing extension walls and10f, respectively.

The operation of the first embodiment of the invention so far shown anddescribed is as follows:

When an operator manipulates the shaft 19 through its grip end 19a torotate in either clockwise orcounterclockwise direction, as the case maybe, when seen in FIG. 4, the cylindrical cam member 20 is rotated to thesame degree in the selected direction. In this way, the detent ball 27will override one or more projections 23 and brought into engagement inselected one of the detent recesses 23a. By the rotational movement ofthe cam member and with pressure engagement of tip end 21a of rib 21with the curved edge 30b, the slide 14 will be shifted rightwardsagainst the action of return spring 17, or leftwards under the actionthereof, depending upon the rotational direction of the shaft 19.

The detent disc 20a is formed on its outer surface with a segmentalstopper member 29 made integral therewith, so as to limit the rotationalrange of the cam to about 90 or so, by occasional engagement with eitherof stopper projections 18a and 18b formed on'the mounting member 18. Therotational angle so limited may be larger or smaller than the abovespecified value, as the case may be. Since the design, number andarrangement of the detent recesses 23a are so selected that for each ofthe thus selected detent position for the slide 14, one of severalswitching-off positions is provided for changing the cooperative modebetween the male contacts 12 and the female contacts 16 as known.

In the foregoing embodiment, there are provided three female contacts16. Each of these contacts 16 has a conventional shape and function.When one of these contacts 16 is sectioned along a section line Y-Y' inFIG. 3, then, it represents substantially a similar configuration asshown in FIG. 2.

Any one of these contacts 16 controls four male or stationary contacts12a, the number of these controllable male contacts by any one of saidfemale contacts is defined by the number of said detent projections 23.

As an example, the left end positioned female contact 16 covers in itsoperation four male contacts 12 which have been, however, denoted A" BC" and D in succession from left to right. When the related femalecontact 16 is positioned, male contacts A" and 8" are brought intoelectrical connection with each other. When the same female contact 16is shifted a step rightwards by movement of the slide 14 in the samedirection, next two contacts B and C are brought into electricalconnection with each other. When the same female contact 16 is shifted astill further step again rightwards, further next two contacts C and D"are brought into electrical connection each other.

Naturally, the switching mode is not limited to such specific one, andmay be conceivable in other various ways.

It will be seen that in the foregoing embodiment as well as severalsucceeding embodiments to be described, the switching slide is subjectedto an accurate dividingly selected positioning action derived'from thedetent ball-and-recess assembly so that the slide can be positioned in ahighly accurate way at each selective multicontact switching position.

The second embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the structure andoperation are substantially similar to those of the first embodiment.Therefore, similar parts of the present embodiment to those of theforegoing have been denoted by respective same reference numerals, yeteach being attached with a prime for easier identification andcomparison.

The only difference of the present embodiment from the foregoing residessubstantially in that the pressure spring strip 26 has been dispensedwith the ball-receiving perforation as at 26a shown in FIGS. 3 and 4employed in the foregoing, and

instead, the mounting member 18 is formed such perforation 18a. As willbe easily seen that the ball-positioning effect can be equally attainedas before.

Finally, a third embodiment shown in FIGS. 12-14, substantialconstruction andfunction are similar to those of the first embodiment. Asubstantial difference resides in the provision of a pin-and-groovemechanism.

Therefore, similar parts are denoted with respective same referencenumerals, each being, however, added with for easier identification andcomparison.

More specifically, cylindrical cam member is formed with an inclinedslot 120a in which a follower pin 121 is kept in slidable engagement.Therefore, by turning the cam member 120 in one or another direction,the slide 114 will be shifted to-and-fro by the slidable engagement ofthe follower pin 121 with the cam slot 120a. Thus, the same effect asbefore can be equally attained.

I claim:

1. A slide switch assembly with rotary spring detent mechanism,comprising a stationary metallic casing having substantially anelongated box shape opening downwards, a closure strip member made of aninsulating material and closing physically the open bottom of saidcasing, a number of spaced stationary male contacts mounted on saidclosure member, a slide made of an insulating material and carryingthereon a plurality of movable female contacts mounted resiliently butfixedly on said slide, a return spring inserted under compressionbetween said slide and said casing, a stationary mounting member fixedlyattached to one end of said casing, a manually rotatable shaft, acylindrical cam member rigidly connected with said shaft, a detent meansmounted on said cam member, a female camming groove or recess formed onsaid cam member, and a male follower member formed on said slide andkept in cooperative engagement with said female camming means.

1. A slide switch assembly with rotary spring detent mechanism,comprising a stationary metallic casing having substantially anelongated box shape opening downwards, a closure strip member made of aninsulating material and closing physically the open bottom of saidcasing, a number of spaced stationary male contacts mounted on saidclosure member, a slide made of an insulating material and carryingthereon a plurality of movable female contacts mounted resiliently butfixedly on said slide, a return spring inserted under compressionbetween said slide and said casing, a stationary mounting member fixedlyattached to one end of said casing, a manually rotatable shaft, acylindrical cam member rigidly connected with said shaft, a detent meansmounted on said cam member, a female camming groove or recess formed onsaid cam member, and a male follower member formed on said slide andkept in cooperative engagement with said female camming means.